NOTE: nbd is a Network Block Device, used to access storage remotely across the network instead of residing locally. If the nbd module is compiled into the kernel, Linux can use a remote server as one of its block devices. Every time the client machine wants to read /dev/nbd0, it sends a request to the server using TCP. The server replies with the data requested. Unlike NFS, it is possible to put any file system on it, but nbd does not allow shared access from multiple machines.

Standard online installations of Rapid Recovery Agent require an internet connection on the Linux machine you want to protect. You can obtain the latest Agent software from the Rapid Recovery License Portal in the form of a repository package (a Linux archive with the appropriate files). The files are extracted and installed using a package manager appropriate for the Linux version you want to protect.

If you want to protect a Linux machine that is offline (such as an air-gapped secure computer or a machine in a remote location), instead of using package managers and repository packages, you can download a shell script from the license portal. This single script can be used to install Rapid Recovery Agent on any supported Linux distribution and version. For more information, see Installing the Agent software on offline Linux machines.

The Linux distributions that Rapid Recovery supports use the package manager utilities shown in the following table.

To install or upgrade Agent on a Linux machine, you must obtain the repository package relevant to your Linux distribution and version. These packages are found on the Rapid Recovery License Portal , as described in step 6.

The package managers work with a local Rapid Recovery repository created as part of this process. The local repository retrieves packages and files from remote repositories that Quest maintains for each specific Linux distribution. This process guarantees you have the correct files accessible for the Linux machine you want to protect.

If installing Rapid Recovery Agent for the first time, there is no need to uninstall software, or back up any configuration files.

If Rapid Recovery Agent is already installed and you are upgrading your Linux machine to a new version, steps are included to remove the previous local software repository.

Complete the following steps to install or upgrade the Rapid Recovery Agent on any supported Linux distribution.

Open a terminal session with root access.

If Rapid Recovery Agent was never installed on this machine, skip tostep 6. Otherwise, proceed to the next step.

If upgrading from a previous version of Rapid Recovery Agent, verify whether a local software repository is installed. Type the command shown below for the appropriate Linux distribution, and then press Enter:

Option

Command

RHEL, CentOS, and Oracle Linux

rpm -qa | grep rapidrecovery-repo

SLES

rpm -qa | grep rapidrecovery-repo

Debian and Ubuntu

dpkg -l | grep rapidrecovery-repo

If the repository for staging Rapid Recovery Agent files already exists, a value is returned; otherwise, no output results from this command.

If the repository exists, remove it. Type the command shown below for the appropriate Linux distribution, and then press Enter:

Option

Command

RHEL, CentOS, and Oracle Linux

rpm -e rapidrecovery-repo

SLES

rpm -e rapidrecovery-repo

Debian and Ubuntu

dpkg -P rapidrecovery-repo

The repository is removed.

Determine if the package manager is configured to download Rapid Recovery. Run the following command, and view the output. Type the command shown below for the appropriate Linux distribution, and then press Enter:

Option

Command

RHEL, CentOS, and Oracle Linux

yum repolist

SLES

zypper repos

Debian and Ubuntu

ls /etc/apt/sources.list.d

The output lists existing local repositories. If Rapid Recovery is not listed in the output, then the local software repository has not been installed.

Download the new repository package from the license portal following the steps below.

Linux commands by package manager

Each supported Linux distribution uses a specific package manager, as listed in the table below. The package managers use commands that sometimes differ to accomplish the same task. The appropriate Linux commands required to remove AppAssure Agent, or install, upgrade, or remove Rapid Recovery Agent , are included in each individual topic. Those commands are repeated in this topic, listed by package manager for easy reference. Each cell in this table contains one complete command.